A-Infos (en) Anarchist Age Weekly Review No.556 21st July ­ 27th July 2003

[Phil McCrory <philmcc@melbpc.org.au>]

 ________________________________________________
      A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
            http://www.ainfos.ca/
        http://ainfos.ca/index24.html
 ________________________________________________

NO GLOBALISATION WITHOUT DIRECT DEMOCRACY ­ ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE
"WE SWEAR BY THE SOUTHERN CROSS TO STAND TRULY BY EACH OTHER AND FIGHT TO
DEFEND OUR RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES" ­ EUREKA REBELLION OATH 18
BYE BYE ABC
Senator Alston's attack on the integrity and impartiality of the ABC is more
than a ham fisted attempt to intimidate ABC staff.  Over the past seven
years the Howard government has been involved in a war of attrition against
the ABC.  This war has been fought on three fronts.  Firstly, the ABC has
been starved of funds forcing staff to do more with less.  Secondly, the ABC
board has been stacked with government appointments who seem to be more
interested in promoting the government's ideological and cultural agenda
than looking after the interests of the ABC.  Thirdly the appointment of
Jonathon Shier as the new managing director by the ABC board resulted in a
cull of middle and upper level management that caused a significant brain
drain from the corporation and a loss of morale among staff.
These changes coupled with the introduction of short-term contracts for a
significant number of ABC staff has resulted in a climate of self-censorship
are creeping into ABC reporting and current affairs programs.  The level of
self-censorship increases every time the ABC comes under direct and
sustained attack from the Prime Minister and the Telecommunications
Minister.  Senator Alston's attacks on the impartiality of Mr Murray Greenıs
(the head of the ABC National Complaints Bodies) report on Mr. Alston's
sixty eight claims that one program ŒAMı, was biased in its reporting of the
United States led invasion of Iraq, has opened up a fourth front in the
government's war against the ABC.
The Prime Minister's assertion that you can't expect an internal review to
look at complaints objectively gives an indication that the Federal
government is toying with the idea of creating an external body whose
members are appointed by it, that will examine claims of bias by the ABC.
The creation of such a body will turn the ABC from an independent
broadcaster to a propaganda arm of the government of the day.  Self
censorship a growing problem within the ABC will become the norm and those
staff that continue to produce independent commentary will find their
reports will be deemed to be biased by the government appointed complaints
panel and their short term contracts will not be renewed.

RIGHT LOGIC, WRONG ANSWER
The ŒHerald Sun' editorial 21/07 which acknowledges that an alarming number
of doctors across Australia are abandoning bulk billing, mistakenly suggests
that the passage of the Howard government's Medicare package through the
Senate, will resolve the current Medicare crisis.  Doctors, especially in
Liberal and National Party electorates, have stopped bulk billing because
the Medicare rebate has not kept up with inflation.  The Howard government
has, since its election seven years ago, attempted to destroy universal
health care by starving it of funds.
As a consequence of the pressure that has been exerted on the Federal
government by voters in its own electorates, as a result of this policy, the
Howard government will be introducing changes in parliament which it claims
will halt the rapid decline of bulk billing that's occurring.  This
so-called reform package will put the final nail in one of the most
important social innovations in this country - universal access to health
care, not save it.  The proposed changes will create a two tier system,
where those who continue to be bulk billed will, like in the Fawkner clinics
case, receive a second rate service, while those who have the disposable
income will have access to the best health care money can buy.
Every single doctor's organisation, from the radical Doctors Reform Society,
to the conservative Private Doctors of Australia, to the Australian Medical
Association, have stated their members do not support the proposed changes
and will not be opting into the government's proposed scheme.  The proposed
reforms are an ideologically driven mish-mash of stillborn proposals that in
no way addresses the problem of dramatically falling bulk billing rates.  If
the opposition parties do not block this legislation in the senate, we may
as well begin writing Medicare's obituary.
What has happened at the Fawkner clinic is just a taste of what is in store
for Australians.  Access to health care should be a right, not a charity, or
a luxury.  ŒDefend and Extend Medicare ­ Australiaı, encourages all
Australians who are concerned about what's happening to Medicare to think
about taking part in a series of rallies that will be held across the
country.  It begins in Melbourne at 5.30pm on FRIDAY the 5th of September
outside the State Library in Swanston Street, to highlight that the Federal
government's proposed changes will destroy, not save Medicare.

THEY STILL LOVE HIM
Sad, isn't it? Although around 35% of Australians believe the Howard
government knowingly misled them about the invasion of Iraq and another 30%
believe the government unknowingly misled them, Australians still love John
Howard and the Liberal/National Party government.  It's touching to know
that so many of my fellow citizens are happy to have a liar as a Prime
Minister.
The trouble seems to be that the Œme tooı policy free Labor opposition
smells so badly, people are more willing to support a liar than chance their
hand with them.  It's possible people are so frightened about the
overwhelming spectre of terrorism, theyıre more than willing to accept a
liar as a Prime Minister. There's northing to be gained by pointing the
finger at the liarıs supporters and impotently jumping up and down making a
fuss that people are happy to give their support to known liars.  The Howard
government has skilfully exploited the security crisis to such an extent
that Australians are more than willing to support anyone who gives the
impression that they are doing something about it.
What many people fail to realise is that as a people and a country, we find
ourselves in this predicament as a direct consequence of the governments
security policies.  The situation has not been helped by a fourth estate
that is unwilling or unable to confront the government and call a spade a
spade.  Time and time again John Howard Œthe liarı, is let off the hook by
editorial teams that are more concerned with carrying favour with the
government than asking awkward questions.  People are so mesmerised by the
Prime Ministerial office, believing itıs the only thing that stands between
them and personal disaster theyıre happy to forgive the Prime Minister a
multitude of sins.  Interestingly the only leader of the axis of liars that
is facing political ruin is Tony Blair the British Prime Minister.  In
Britain, the fourth estate has pounced on the nominal Labor leader,
believing that by forgetting Blair they will be able to rehabilitate the
fortunes of a moribund Conservative Party.
To a large degree, what pressure political leaders are put under, depends on
the attitude of the fourth estate.  A media that is dominated by corporate
interests never fails to support the conservative candidate.  Blair faces
disaster, Howard rides high, both their political fortunes are intermingled
with the political king makers in their country, a fourth estate that is
intellectually and economically dominated by those who own the means by
which information is disseminated.  John Howard's approval rating will
remain high as long as significant proportions of the population use the
corporate dominated media to formulate their views about the world.  Thatıs
why alternative reliable sources of information have become such an
important weapon in the battle to strip those who wield power of that power.

LATERAL THINKING
The plight of Gavin Slipais, the 15 year old teenager who jumped off the
Stoney Point Frankston train when confronted by revenue officers,
dramatically highlights the issue of public transport in Victoria.  The
privatisation of the public transport delivery system by the Kennett
government, the removal of conductors and station staff and their
replacement by a series of ticketing systems that have been not accepted by
Victorians and that have never actually worked, demands that the whole
ticketing system, not just the controversial role of ticketing inspectors,
be investigated.
It's time that Peter Batchelor and his department offered the long suffering
public some alternatives to the daily confrontations that occur on the
public transport system between Victorians and revenue officers.  Instead of
trying to patch up a system that is obviously incapable of being repaired,
radical solutions need to be examined, discussed and implemented.
A simple way of approaching this festering problem is by introducing a
ticketless free public transport system at the point of entry.  Lost revenue
could be recovered by placing a levy, similar to the Medicare levy, on each
rateable property that is serviced by the public transport system, both in
metropolitan and regional Victoria.  The benefits of such a system are both
immediate and local and long term and global.  As everybody has pre-paid for
the privilege of travelling on the public transport system by the payment of
a levy based on a percentage of the rates they pay, patronage would increase
dramatically.  Motor vehicles would be left at home, congestion on the roads
and green house emissions would be reduced.  The need to build more and more
expensive roads would decrease.  The ubiquitous ticketing system could be
scrapped and placed in the Victorian Museum as a relic of a bygone age and
the State's revenue officers could be retrained as public transport security
officers and look after public transport users and not harass them.
The tourist industry and regional Victoria would be major beneficiaries of
these changes.  Victorians and interstate and overseas tourists would take
advantage of a free public transport system and use trains and buses to
travel extensively around the State, creating jobs by spending their tourist
dollars in Victoria.  It's amazing what can happen when the intellectual
blinkers are removed and radical solutions are applied to what at first seem
to be insoluble problems.

THE PENNY HAS FINALLY DROPPED
The penny has finally dropped that, irrespective of what David Hicks and
Mamdouh Habib have been alleged to have done, they are Australian citizens
who are held by the United States administration in circumstances that
should not be tolerated by any civilised society.  The Howard government has
mistakenly believed that because itıs alleged they are terrorists they could
wash their hands of them and leave their fate in the hands of the Bush
administration.  Itıs important to remember that prisoners at Camp X in Cuba
are literally prisoners of the Bush administration, not the US government.
They have been denied rights that are normally extended to those that face
criminal charges in the US and those that face the International War Crimes
Tribunal.  They are held under conditions where the rules are written to
suit the US administrationıs current ideological position.  For all
intentional purposes, their fate will be decided by whatever process the
Bush administration decides best suits their current political agenda.
Hicks and Habib are non-citizens with no rights who have been kidnapped by
the Bush administration.  They have not been charged with any offence and
were sent to Camp X in Cuba to be interrogated in ways that the US
constitution would never allow in the US.
The case of Hicks and Habib, highlights that despite all the posturing and
huffing and puffing by the Howard government about the importance of
Australian citizenship, they are not interested in the fate of citizens
overseas who do not support the governmentıs ideological agenda.  The way
their plight has been ignored by the Howard government stands in stark
contrast to the extraordinary efforts that the Foreign Minister, Alexander
Downer and the government went to, to have the Danes released from a Loatian
prison.
It seems that Australian citizenship, if you find yourself in trouble
overseas, is only of use to you if the government supports your political
position.  They way Hicks and Habib have been treated by the Australian
government raises serious issues for all Australians who travel overseas who
mistakenly believe that Australian missions around the world will offer them
assistance because they are Australian citizens.

ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER
Q.  WHAT ROLE DOES ACCOUNTABILITY PLAY IN AN ANARCHIST SOCIETY?
A.  Accountability plays a central role in any anarchist community.  In any
society that is not based on a hierarchical chain of command, accountability
plays a pivotal role in the running and long-term survival of that
community.  Accountability in an anarchist society is not based on trust or
people doing the right thing by their neighbours, it is based on the
establishment of structures that incorporate accountability within their
framework.
The idea of electing or appointing recallable delegates that are ultimately
responsible to the groups that entrust them with carrying out particular
decisions recognises the central role of accountability in an anarchist
society.  The rejection by anarchists of representative democratic
structures highlights how seriously accountability is taken amongst
anarchists.  Anarchists rejection of parliamentary democracy rests on their
rejection of the ideas that representatives are given a blank cheques to
make decisions on their behalf for a three or four year period.  No
anarchist is willing to delegate power unless there are mechanisms and
structures in place, which make those who wield power directly and
immediately accountable to those they exercise power for.
The same principles that are applied to the decision making processes within
an anarchist society are also extended to how wealth is distributed within
that community.  Allowing distribution of wealth and resources to be based
on the idea that human beings will do the right thing by each other is a
recipe for disaster.  How wealth is created and distributed is a matter for
the community as a whole.  Those who are given the power to be involved in
the distribution process or have been delegated the power to distribute
scarce resources within the community, do so under guidelines which are
decided by the community.  Their positions are revocable and if there are
concerns about how they are exercising the power they have been delegated,
mechanisms will have been created that can trigger the recallable process if
enough people think they are applying the guidelines they were instructed to
follow.
Accountability is an integral component of an anarchist society.  The
rejection of the idea that rulers should be able to exercise power is linked
to the fact that they are not directly accountable to the people they
exercise power over.  It would be ridiculous to think that a group of people
that has gone to all the trouble of overthrowing unaccountable rulers and
rejecting hierarchical structures, would not incorporate mechanisms within
the non-hierarchical community they have created that does not make those
who temporarily exercise power accountable to the people they exercise power
over.

ACTION BOX
"HEARTS AND MINDS"
Any anarchist that does not take into account the sensibility and opinions
of the community around them is bound to become disillusioned and apathetic
in a very short period of time.  How many times have you been faced with the
spectacle of seeing activists lash out at the very people they need to
influence, to create the momentum and political and social space that is
required to change structures and institutions that are protected from
change by an uncritical fourth estate?
No one in their right mind is going to abandon the life they know, no matter
how miserable and alienated it may seem to us, unless the alternatives that
are presented are intellectually and emotionally attractive.  Although the
United States was easily able to topple the Saddam Hussein regime, it hasnıt
been able to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.  The vision of
liberty, democracy and economic nirvana it promised is not able to be
reconciled with the reality the people of Iraq currently face.  Tony Blair
the British representative of the axis of evil, is quite right when he told
a joint sitting of the American Congress and Senate that force is not
enough, you need to win the hearts and minds of people if you want them to
adopt your ideas.
Expressing sensitivity with peopleıs plight does not necessarily translate
into support for the structures and institutions they support.  Itıs one
thing to blame the structures and institutions that mould peopleıs opinions
and actions, itıs another thing to personally blame them.  Blaming the
victim is not only wrong, but counter productive.  The structures that we
develop to promote radical social change and the campaigns we become
involved in should at all times reflect the social and cultural reality we
are faced with.  A direct frontal attack on institutions and structures that
we find oppressive may be personally satisfying but will not necessarily win
us any support.  Those who exercise power may publicly froth at the mouth at
a confrontational approach, but privately celebrate when they are able to
portray our activities as the actions of a lunatic fringe.
In order to survive, prosper and grow as a political and social movement,
anarchists need to constantly review what activities they are involved in.
We need to examine how these activities promote the growth of principles and
structures within the community that make anarchist ideas a living part of
the communities we live and work in.  At the end of the day we need to
remember weıre involved in a battle for the hearts and minds of those around
us with those who wield power.  Generating fear, within the ranks of those
we need to win over to create an egalitarian community, is a tactic that
will never create the conditions that are necessary to create the type of
community we harbour in our hearts and minds.

AUSTRALIAN RADICAL HISTORY
SUNDAY OPENING
Melbourneıs public library on Swanston Street was an important part of
Melbourneıs radical life in "Marvellous Melbourne" in the 1880ıs.  The only
problem was that on the workerıs day of rest ­ Sunday, everything was closed
in Melbourne and trains only ran to take people to church.  The ban on
opening the library particularly upset Left Wing activists.  Many had become
activists as a result of the establishment of Mechanics institutes,
organisations set up by workers to educate themselves in a period when
universal education did not exist.
The public library in Melbourne, which opened in 1856, trialed Sunday
opening for two months in 1883.  The workers struck back and formed the
Sunday Observance League, the radicals formed the Sunday Libertarian Society
to keep the library open.  In the ensuing public debate, a riot broke out
and parliament using the excuse of the riot, stopped Sunday opening.  The
issue bubbled along until 1889 when at a meeting at Queens Wharf, a popular
spot for Sunday stump orators, Chummy Fleming the well known Melbourne
anarchist declared
"After the meeting is over I shall be going up to that library to look at it
from the outside, and I think about how much I should like to be inside
reading, instead of loafing about in the street"
To a man and a woman, the crowd moved to the library.  For the next few
months after listening to the radical speeches at Queens Wharf, up to 5,000
people marched to the library and the crowd gave "three hearty cheers for
the opening of it".  The crowd then moved across to RMIT to continue the
struggle.  Concerned that thousands of people were taking to the streets
every Sunday, the police arrested three of the ringleaders Chummy Fleming,
Sam Rosa and Johnny White and charged them with "loitering and offensive and
insulting behaviour".
When brought before the Magistrates Court, the police told the court that
those arrested didnıt just make statements about Sunday opening, "they
denounce both capitalists and over Magistrates your worship".  The insulting
behavioursı charges were struck out, but they were found guilty of the other
charges and were ordered to pay a three pound fine.  Declaring that they had
done nothing wrong, they chose one monthıs jail instead.  It wasnıt until
the 22nd September 1904 that the Victorian parliament passed legislation to
open the doors of its public institutions on Sundays.  The last State in
Australia and possibly the British Empire to do so.
SOURCE OF MATERIAL FOR THIS ARTICLE: - ŒRadical Melbourne ­ A Secret
Historyı, chaspter 38, Public Library, pages 161-165, Jeff & Jill Sparrow
ISBN 0957735243.  Available from New International Bookshop ­ Melbourne
Trades Hall Melbourne.

  BOOK REVIEW
   "LIZARD ISLAND
  ­ The Journey of Mary Watson"
  Suzanne Falkiner & Alan Oldfield,
  Allen & Unwin 2000, ISBN 1865084735
Alan Oldfieldıs series of paintings, his interpretation of the meaning of
Mary Watsonıs life and Suzanne Falkinerıs essays is the type of revisionist
history that would not meet the approval the Prime Minister John Howard and
the historical revisionists that have flourished under his patronage.  This
230 page coffee table book, lavishly illustrated by Alan Oldfield oils and
acrylics, brings to life the story of Mary Watson the 21 years old "whose
death at the hands of North Queensland Aborigines" in 1881 became stuff
pioneering legends are made of.
Suzanne Falkiner examines the material available about the legend of Mary
Watson, her 4 month old baby Ferrier and her 2 Chinese servants Ah Sam and
Ah Leung who were attacked by Aborigines on Lizard Island off Cooktown in
1881.  Mary Watson, her baby Ferrier and one f her Chinese servants Ah Sam
escaped in a cut down shipıs water tank to a nearby island, dying of thirst
while the island birds fluttered around a hidden well.  Around 150 Cape York
Aborigines were killed in retaliation although none of those shot was
involved in the attack on Lizard Island.  The bodies of Mary Watson, baby
Ferrier and Al Sam were found among the mangroves of No.5 Howick Island.
Mary Watson left a diary in which she chronicled her last days.
The legend of Mary Watson became a metaphor for the European settlers
pioneering battle against the wilderness. The legend ignored both the role
of the traditional inhabitants and the Chinese workers who were an integral
component of the colonisation process of North Queensland.  Suzanne Falkiner
painstakingly examines the evidence from all sides of the story, undermining
the legend with a dose of historical reality. Alan Oldfield through his
paintings of the Mary Watson legend attempts to depict the historical
reality while imbuing the series "with a greater, even cosmic sense of
reality". The paintings, 15 pieces in all, ranging in size from 3.5x38cm to
22.6x27.3cm oil and acrylics on canvas on board, were produced between 1986
& 1999. They are now in the permanent collection of the Cairns Regional
Gallery, a few hundred klms from where the actual events took place.
"LIZARD ISLAND ­ The Journey of Mary Watson" dissects a European legend from
a European perspective.  It turns the legend on its head providing the
social and historical scaffolding thatıs required for reconciliation between
indigenous and non-indigenous Australians to become a reality.
"LIZARD ISLAND ­ The Journey of Mary Watson"
is available from the publishers Allen & Unwin,
83 Alexander St, Crows Nest 2065, Australia. Tel:(612)84250100,
Fax:(612)99062218, email:frontdesk@allen-unwin.com.au  www.allenandunwin.com

PERSONAL OBSERVATION
Idyllic, picture postcard afternoon, winter sunshine warming winter bones.
Family groups using the park, watch their offspring gambol like manic lambs
on perfectly manicured grass.  Sitting, waiting, writing on the ubiquitous
park BBQ table, I focus my attention on the closed childrenıs play area at
the top of the park.  Child proof gates, high green steel fence, swings,
slippery slides, room to frolic and kick a ball even a sand pit, a rarity in
these days of discarded syringes.
Small family groups go in and out, parents sit in a corner reading, looking
at nothing in particular, safe in the knowledge that their children are
protected and they donıt have to keep an eye on them to make certain they
donıt slip away, run onto the road or are snatched away by a stranger.
Peace, tranquillity, nirvana in a childrenıs playground behind a green steel
fence.
A young man, his 2 year old child and another boy slip into the playground.
As they enter, a large dog bounds up to them and licks the 2 year old
knocking him over in the process.  Pandemonium breaks out, the father picks
up the boy as stories of a thousand dog attacks and disfigured children
flash through his mind.  The dog, frightened by the sudden movement runs
back to its owner, a young mother who is watching her own 2 year old playing
in one of those giant Œlegoı like blocks that are all the rage in todayıs
socially engineered childrenıs playgrounds.  No sharp edges, no expensive
legal litigation.
He runs up to the woman, child in his arms,  "Why the fuck have you got a
dog in here?"  He drew closer.  She moved closer to her child, the dog
looked at both of them, her 2 year old stopped playing.  He stopped himself,
if his antagonist had a penis, the outcome might have been ugly.  He moved
to the slide, muttering to himself.  She gathered up her 2 year old, with
dog in tow, they leave the enclosure, expelled from the garden of Eden into
the big wide world.  Children start playing again, parents begin to take
notice, fold their newspapers and watch their children.  Even in the Garden
of Eden on a perfect day with not a hint of trouble in sight, Godıs
handiwork made in his own image is blighted with the burden of Godıs
imperfection original sin.

STOP PRESS
ITıS STARTED
Anyone with half a synapsing neurone will have noticed that the rhetoric for
war has stepped up a few notches.  Iraq today, North Korea tomorrow, the
world next week, simple isnıt it.  Itıs amazing how the fourth estate has so
easily slotted into the Howard governmentıs war scenario.  Learned
commentators, wax lyrically about why Howard is right, why North Korea is a
threat and why Australia is inextricably linked to the United States
military industrial complex.
Australiaıs foremost political liar, the Prime Minister easily slips back
into the rhetoric of war, cajoling, pushing, prodding entreating an
increasingly suspicious population that is necessary, possibly inevitable.
Stories appear about North Korea with monotonous regularity.  Howard does a
tour of North Asia, bloated with pride about his new found rule as Bushıs
deputy sheriff both in the Northern and Southern hemisphere.  Each step,
each word, each gesture brings us closer to war with a people we have no
argument with.
Television, newspaper, radio, internet sites chatter away about the need for
war, the need for world domination, the need to redirect our resources to
support the US imperial ambitions.  Bushıs Southern hemisphere poodle
fritters away Australiaıs human, social and economic resources so he can buy
a place in the history books with our blood, sweat and tears.  Money
earmarked for social security benefits, health and education is redirected
into an ever expanding military budget.  No one notices, no one talks about
it as the most divisive Australian PM since Billy Hughes, pays for the war
effort with the nationıs Medicare card.
We need to redouble our efforts to expose Howard and his cabinet for what
they are.  Australia cannot afford to have a known liar with a penchant for
war, as a Prime Minister.  The social and human costs that flow from the
Howard governmentıs ideologically driven war agenda, far outweigh any
imaginary security gains the country may be able to achieve.
Joseph TOSCANO / Libertarian Workers
for a Self-Managed Society.

ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED THIS WEEK
… LE LIBERTAIRE No.238 July/Aug Œ03, Revue de synthese anarchiste, Boite
Postale 745, 76060  Leitavre Cedex FRANCE Tel:(0148414594),
www.le-libertaire.org,libertaire@normandnet.fr
… UMANITA NOVA Vol 83 No.23 EL 22nd June Œ03, Settimanale Anarchico, C.50
Palermo 46, 10152, Torino ITALY. tel/fax (011) 857850 Mobile 338-6594361
email:fat@inrete.it
DEBT ELIMINATION APPEAL - Our debt stands at $1692.40
HERE WE GO AGAIN, ONLY SEVEN MONTHS INTO 2003 & we find ourselves struggling
to pay our bills & survive.  Just in case youıre waiting for a renewal
notice ­ we donıt send any out, we leave it up to our subscribers to take on
this responsibility & re-subscribe when their subscription has run out.  We
need to raise $210.00 per week in order to cover typing, printing, postage &
radio program and ongoing campaign costs. How much we are able to do depends
to a large degree on the level of our finances.  You can help by A) -
Subscribing to the AAWR $10.00 = 10 Issues, $50.00 = 50 Issues, B) - joining
our Dollar A Day group or C) - donating money or stamps.  Think about buying
your local library or a friend a subscription to the A.A.W.R. If sending
less than $20.00 save on banking costs & send us 50cent stamps. Otherwise
make out cheques & money orders to LIBERTARIAN WORKERS & send to P.O. BOX
20, PARKVILLE 3052, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA.
Debt 23-07-2003            $1692.40

ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS ­ (ATNTF)
THIS WEEK'S STORIES:  Ill, Legal Substances...Foreigners Bring Foot In Mouth
Disease...That Showed Em...Govt To Build Radioactive Dump...Out sourcing
Works, Say Companies...Quotes of the Week.

The full bench of the Industrial Relations Commission has upheld Qantas'
decision to sack an employee for using the internet for illegal purposes.
The employee had tried to buy amyl nitrate via email.  Amyl nitrate is not
illegal. (Fin. Review, July 10).
A 17 yo girl is set to be deported back to the country she fled after being
kidnapped at 14 by a gang that tried to force her to run drugs. Ruth Cruz
has appealed to the Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock. Mr Ruddock has
criticised Ms Cruz's supporters for making her case public. He said "I don't
make these decisions other than with a full brief of all the facts,".  This
seems to contradict a statement Mr Ruddock made that was reported by the
Sydney Morning Herald on June 19.  Mr Ruddock said on that occasion that it
was naïve to expect him to read the files of every person that he allowed to
stay in Australia.  The people Mr Ruddock helped in that case had made large
donations to the Liberal Party. (The Age, July 13, Sydney Morning Herald,
June 19).
The 53 Vietnamese boat people detained on Christmas Island 2 weeks ago have
been cleared to appeal for temporary protection visas.  This contradicts
claims by Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock that they could be economic
migrants. John Howard stated he was prepared to spend whatever was necessary
to stop the boat people setting foot on the Australian mainland.  Some
reports put the cost as high as $10 million. Because the boat people managed
to enter the 'migration zone' & are therefore eligible to access Australia's
Refugee Review Tribunal & court system, the same rights they wouldıve
received had they been processed on the mainland. (The Australian, July 15,
Herald Sun, July 9).
The Federal Govt says construction of a national radioactive waste dump
could begin within 12 months, after it 'compulsorily acquired' land in
Woomera. (ABC News Online, July 7).
The Australian Tax Office spent $860 million over 5 years out-sourcing their
IT needs to the EDS company, compared to the original budget of $480
million. Out-sourcing is promoted as cheaper & more efficient than having
work done in-house.  Opponents say it is a form of 'corporate welfare' & is
used to undercut wages & conditions. (The Australian, June 5).
QUOTES OF THE WEEK:  "To initiate a war of aggression...is not only an
international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only
from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil
of the whole". The Nuremberg Tribunal (trial of Nazi war criminals after
World War II).
"military industrial corporations like General Dynamics, Raytheon & Lockheed
Martin experienced a sharp rise in their stock prices in the immediate wake
of the Sept 11th attacks. They were to be the prime benficiaries of the
immediate increase of  $48 billion & the 5-year increase of $120 billion in
the military budget proposed by the Bush admin with the crisis mentality
created by Sept 11".  ( From "Making War at Home in the United States:
Militarisation & the Current Crisis", by Catherine Lutz, 'American
Anthropologist'  Issue 104 (3) 2002).

anarchist news service write to James, PO Box 503, Newtown NSW 2042 or email
anarchists@hellokitty.com contact us to get ATNTF emailed directly to you.
If you like ATNTF, forward it on to people or lists who might be interested
in it, or post it on your local Indymedia http://www.indymedia.org. Some
other Aust anarchist contacts: Love & Rage is an anarchist, non-profit
record label.  Our CD is available by mail order.  20 songs for $10 within
Aust, $15 in NZ, $10 in USA, $10 in Canada, 5 pounds in UK, or 10 euros in
the rest of Europe.  Other countries, or enquiries from shops and distroes,
email us & ask.  Address for orders is PO Box 1191, Richmond North VIC 3121
(Australia).  Please make cheques or money orders out to J. Hutchings.
www.loveandrage.rocks.it www.angry.at/thegovernment - anarchist website with
fliers for download, contacts etc. www.angry.at/racists -
Anarchist/anti-racist music site with free mp3s, Real Audio, Real Video,
internet radio, band interviews etc.  Also includes the text of 'Escape', an
anarchist novel - www.geocities.com/skipnewborn/novel.doc www.dolearmy.org -
info for unemployed people, www.activate.8m.com - anarchist magazine aimed
at teenagers. ATNTF appears in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review
(http://www.vicnet.net.au/~anarch  - PO Box 20 Parkville VIC 3052) & The Ham
(http://www.theham.cat.org.au).
Media outlets mentioned in ATNTF are sources - items arenıt direct quotes
from news media.  Background info may have been gathered from sources in
addition to media outlets cited.  Where no source is cited, the info has
been gathered from direct sources.

ANARCHIST MEDIA INSTITUTE OBSCENITY OF THE WEEK
Has been awarded to Tony Blair the British arm of the Axis of Evil for the
pathetic, transparent one-dimensional views he expressed when he addressed a
joint sitting of the United States Congress and Senate last week. ­ Some
unsolicited advice Tony; - get yourself a new batch of speechwriters.  Just
in case your speech was your own handiwork, wash out your mouth with salt
and water.

STAMP APPEAL  - We spend over $500.00 on postage stamps per month.  If
youıre writing to us or have any spare stamps floating about stuff them into
the envelope & send them to us.  JOIN our $5.00 a month group & send us a
book of 10 50 cent stamps every month.

HEALTH CARE A RIGHT NOT A CHARITY OR A LUXURY
DEFEND & EXTEND MEDICARE - RALLY
5.30PM FRIDAY  -  5TH SEPTEMBER 2003
STATE LIBRARY TO FEDERATION SQUARE ­ MELBOURNE
ALL WELCOME, BRING ALONG BANNERS
If you want a universal health care system that every body irrespective of
income, has access to join your local Defend and Extend Medicare group.
Email:Defendmedicare@yahoo.com.au www.defendmedicare.cjb.net
Tel: 03 5982 1170, Postal: P.O. Box 5035 Alphington 3078, Victoria
Australia.
Download any material you want and distribute it to your local community.

RECLAIM THE RADICAL SPIRIT OF THE EUREKA REBELLION
ORGANISING GROUP MEETING
7.30pm  -  WEDNESDAY 30TH JULY 2003
CHELSEA COMMUNITY HOUSE ­ 36 BROADWAY, BON BEACH
Melways Ref: 97C3 (Approx. 40kms from Melb G.P.O.)
ALL WELCOME
If you want to go on our mailing list, drop us a line at
P.O. BOX 20, PARKVILLE 3052, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
JOIN US AT BALLARAT AT THE EUREKA STOCKADE SITE
CNR STAWELL & EUREKA STREET, BALLARAT
 >From 4AM TO 4PM
ON WEDNESDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2003
CELEBRATE THE 149TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EUREKA REBELLION

RECLAIM THE RADICAL SPIRIT OF THE EUREKA REBELLION
JOIN US AT BALLARAT AT THE EUREKA STOCKADE SITE
CNR STAWELL & EUREKA STREET, BALLARAT
 >From 4AM TO 4PM
ON WEDNESDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2003
CELEBRATE THE 149TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EUREKA REBELLION
RECLAIM YOUR HISTORY
Celebrate the important elements of the Eureka rebellion
… DIRECT DEMOCRACY
… DIRECT ACTION
… SOLIDARITY
"We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to
defend our rights and liberties"
PROGRAM
… 4.00AM ­ 6.00AM ­ Gathering at Eureka Park to mark the 149th anniversary
of the battle on the site and at the time it occurred
… 6.00am ­ 10.00am ­ Breakfast Eureka Hall (Bring own food & drinks)
… 10.00am ­ 11.00am ­ Radio broadcast across Australia involving the
participants at the site on the National Community Radio Satellite
… 11.30am ­ 1.00pm ­ March from Eureka Park to Bakery Hill to re-affirm the
Eureka Oath.  March back to Eureka Park
… 1.00pm ­ 4.00pm ­ Lunch & conversation (bring own food & drinks)
Reclaim your history, use that history to change the future.
JOIN US AT EUREKA PARK / EUREKA HALL.
(CNR STAWELL & EUREKA STREET, BALLARAT)
 >From 4AM TO 4PM
ON WEDNESDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2003

PEOPLE AGAINST REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION
will be demonstrating outside
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade at Casselden Place,
Corner Lonsdale and Spring Street, Melbourne
at 11.30am on Wednesday, the 30th of July
to highlight the problems faced by 2 Australian citizens whose plight has
been ignored by the Australian government:- Mr. David Hicks & Mr. Mamdouh
Habib.
The Howard governmentıs lack of action in these 2 cases sets a dangerous
precedent for all those Australians who travel overseas who dont support the
Howard governmentıs political agenda.
Dr. Joseph Toscano / Ms. Ruth Martin, joint spokespersons for
People Against Repressive Legislation.
Join us at 11.30am on Wednesday the 30th of July and inform your readers,
listeners and viewers about this dangerous precedent.
  If You Like What You Have Read, Photocopy This Publication and Leave It In
Doctors, Dentists,
Vets Waiting Rooms and In Railway Stations, Bus Stops, Libraries and
Restaurants Etc.
The articles in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review reflect the personal
opinions of the authors, they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the
publishers, the Libertarian Workers for a Self-Managed Society/Anarchist
Media Institute.
All material in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review can be used by anarchists,
anarchist collectives and non-profit organisations as long as the source of
the material is mentioned in the article.  The Anarchist Age Weekly Review
reserves all rights as far as commercial publications are concerned.

ANARCHISM ­ ADVANCING IN DIVERSITY STRIKING IN UNISON ­ YAMAGUCHI KENJI
WELCOME TO THE 21ST CENTURY ­ THE ANARCHIST CENTURY




*******
                       ********
       ****** The A-Infos News Service ******
      News about and of interest to anarchists
                       ******
  COMMANDS: lists@ainfos.ca
  REPLIES: a-infos-d@ainfos.ca
  HELP: a-infos-org@ainfos.ca
  WWW: http://www.ainfos.ca/
  INFO: http://www.ainfos.ca/org

-To receive a-infos in one language only mail lists@ainfos.ca the message:
                unsubscribe a-infos
                subscribe a-infos-X
 where X = en, ca, de, fr, etc. (i.e. the language code)